What is Performance Appraisal System?
The performance appraisal system is mainly the process of assessing employees work performance. It is a formal discussing between the manager and the employee, wherein the manager provides necessary feedback to the employee for his growth and development.
This is possible as the manager will be working closely with you and the feedback which he provides is based on the assessment which he has made throughout the year by the work done by you.
In this performance appraisal system, the manager also offers you several best opportunities for your career growth.
It is again that time of the year where both the appraiser and the appraised have butterflies in their stomach.
The appraised employee is tensed regarding whether he has lived up to the expectation of the company on one hand. Secondly, he has slogged the entire year and wants the covered promotion which is also being eyed by his fellow colleagues also.
The appraiser, on the other hand, is tensed as he has to put additional hours of work and also evaluates the employees well, using correct professional and formal performance appraisal comments.
In most cases, performance appraisal is filled up by the immediate boss and with the support of the HR department of the company.
Now as you have understood what exactly the performance appraisal system is, let us now see the purpose of the performance appraisal system.
Purpose of Performance Appraisal System:
There are many reasons behind why performance appraisal systems are developed, some of them are
- Categorize employees based on their work
- Identify high performers and low performers
- Improve their performance and efficiency
- Provide training for the employee who needs it more.
Different Types of Employee Performance Appraisal System:
The following mentioned are few tips on how to fill performance appraisal form for employees and on employee performance management system
1. The 360-Degree Feedback:
In the 360-degree feedback, an effective performance appraisal of an employee is undertaken by an HR employee who receives multiple level feedback from various people in the company.
These people or raters as they are known as might be superiors, team members, clients, and even customers.
Here the objective of the 360-degree feedback is not only to get a picture of how effective he is in his work but also gauge his interpersonal skills and behavior pattern. This would help the company to plan his career and development well.
Also, the employee can understand the feedback and work on his various limitations over a period of time.
2. MBO or Management By Objectives:
Peter Drucker was among the first people to encourage the use of Management by objectives.
Here the manager and his employee have to discuss and agree on specific objectives that he has to achieve. These objectives for the employee are for a specific period of time.
For example, a sales professional is given the objective to increase his sales turnover by 30% in the next 6 months.
After 6 months the manager would check and analyze the employee regarding the percentage of objective that he has achieved and how he can improve further.
3. Rating-Scale:
The rating-scale appraisal system is quite similar to the one we had in school. Here the employer develops a customized rating system for the employee.
The areas which would be graded are teamwork, technical knowledge and communication skills. Each employee needs to have minimum grades, after which his appraisal can be graded positively by the company.
In case they are problem areas, the employee would receive a development plan from the superiors and HR of the company.
Few other Types of Performance Appraisal System:
The performance appraisal system is like an arc for an employee where your manager along with several other vertices will be providing best of solutions to all your problems and also offers productive feedback that could help to improve your work performance.
Different types of performance management systems:
General Appraisal:
It is a general communication which is done between manager and employee at the workplace. At the end of the year, your manager will be responsible to provide you constructive feedback and rank you based on how your present performance was.
Technological Performance Appraisal:
This is a type of appraisal to assess the knowledge of the employee technically. In simple terms to check how good he/she is technical.
Employee Self-Assessment:
Here the employee first needs to assess himself and then his assessment is compared with the manager’s assessment. If any variations arise, then things are discussed between them.
Sales Performance Appraisal:
A sales professional is directly related to the goals of the company. He is the one who is responsible to bring in customers to the business. In this type of appraisal, the efficiency of a salesperson is tested by comparing the goals with the employee outcomes.
Manager Performance Appraisal:
This appraisal is specially designed for team managers. Managers play an important role in any organization as they have to manage both clients as well as their team members.
In this type of appraisal system, they get advice from both client and as well as the team
members
Project Evaluation Review:
This is a quick and best way to evaluate employee performance as the assessment of the employee is done after each task. So, you do not have to wait till a whole year, for the appraisal system
Below we have discussed the different types of performance appraisal methods available today and the basic procedure to fill up an appraisal form for your team.
Basic Tips to Fill up Employee Appraisal Forms for Team Members:
Being a team manager or a supervisor, you do understand the significance of filling up a performance appraisal form of a team member in your team.
This procedure is very simple and can be undertaken by following the basic steps explained below-
1. Do your homework well:
Before appraisal form filling of an employee, it is important that you study the appraisal data of the last two years. This would help you to understand the various objectives which were undertaken by him over the years.
It would also help you to estimate how he has grown professionally and if he has improved on the limitations which were indicated to him.
Studying both these facts would help you to appraise him in a better manner.
2. Understanding the ratings in your appraisal procedures:
Each company has its own appraisal ratings. The most common ones begin with the exceeding expectation which is given to an outstanding employee, to unsatisfactory performance for a bad performer.
You as a manager have to rate the employee in several areas like how far he has achieved the job objectives which was given to him in the last appraisal, has he overcome his shortcomings which was mentioned to him and what are his interpersonal skills with his peers, subordinates, and superiors.
Here you also have to gauge his ability to grow as a leader and undertake responsibilities. How he manages time should also be considered extensively here.
In the end, you can commend him for the work done and also notify him of the areas where he needs to improve.
3. Point out the extra initiatives that he has undertaken:
Apart from marking him on the normal areas of the appraisal system, you can also accept and praise certain initiatives that he has taken on his own.
This could be representing the company in an inter-company badminton match which he won and brought in glory for the company or commend the way he helped the financial department by helping them considerably during audit weeks.
The feedback should be constructive and this would help your team member to grow in the company.
4. Setting goals for the future:
While doing the individual ratings for the employee, study the areas which might require changes. Then you can add the total ratings for the employee.
Also, you have to set the objectives for your team member for the next year and also mention how he can achieve them in a positive manner.
This would complete your procedure of filling the appraisal form for your team members.
Things to remember while filling your appraisal Form:
Many employees think performance appraisal systems are not helpful in assessing their performance completely in a better way. But, what they need to understand is that these appraisal systems are indeed helpful.
The performance appraisal system helps the employee to know where they lack improvement and identify the places where they need to excel.
Here are a few things which you need to keep in mind
- Structure a checklist
- Maintain a journal
- Communicate all your accomplishments
- Discuss the challenges and areas of improvement
- Acknowledge mistakes
- Never try to fill the form in a hurry.
Steps to help you write an awesome self-appraisal form:
The performance appraisal system is the one which is mostly awaited by the employee and also by the manager. It is the time where you can get positive opportunities and also constructive feedback from your employers that help your career growth.
It is very important to fill in the appraisal form in a proper way. Some of the tips you need to follow are,
- Previous year goal setting
- Add extra achievements
- Being honest and objective
- Highlight the error and mistakes
- Express that you need promotion
- Never try to be, know it all.
Important Guidelines to keep in mind:
1. Spend time when doing an appraisal:
The appraisal form that you are filing for a team member is important. This might take him to the next level of his career or he might get laid off too.
Therefore do not hurry up the procedure and take your time to do it well.
It would also be ideal if you can wait a single day and see if you can add any additional inputs which would give the employee some benefit.
2. Do not indulge in Recency Bias:
When you are appraising your team member you have to take hold of facts for the entire year.
As a seasoned manager, you should not fall into the trap of recency bias, as the employee has been over performing in the last two months.
Here you need to analyze his work performance for the entire year and then fill the form accordingly.
3. Schedule interviews with the employees:
Before filling up the employee performance appraisal forms, most supervisors sit with their team members and have face to face interviews regarding what they have undertaken in the last year and how they have achieved their objectives.
Here you can also request him to mention what are the challenges he has for the next year and how would he undertake it.
Discussions in the interviews help the manager to understand the pulse of the team member and then he would appraise him accordingly.
4. Consult with your superiors:
If you are facing an area of challenge in filling up the appraisal form for a specific team member, it would be best to consult your superior.
Here you could discuss the challenge you are facing and why are you facing it. Then listen to what your superior has to state and then fill-up the form.
A second experienced opinion always works and it also ensures that you are fair in your judgment.
5. Be sincere and honest:
As a manager, you should be honest and sincere to all your team members. You should never be partial to a good performer.
As senior personnel, you have to understand that everybody works hard in a team and some may over-perform, while others are average.
With your guidance and mentoring an average employee can also over-perform in the next few months. But if you show favoritism, you are preventing them to give their best.
Conclusion:
Mention that you have a responsibility towards your team and these members would also help you to take your career to the next level. Thus be dedicated and sincere when filling up their appraisal forms.
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